Making and Creating Everyday

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It has been a while since I’ve made a collage (I think the last one was my Deer Chicago piece) so I was excited to make these collages earlier this week during an art night with some friends.

The following piece is my boyfriend’s favorite. He likes the kid jumping off of the diving board into the pool of space. I think my favorite is the one of the man and the woman with the galaxy behind them. I love how excited the woman is. She is so INTO that galaxy.

A few weeks ago, we drove over to Mono Lake, a massive salty lake on the eastern border of Yosemite. I had seen the lake from afar before, and I knew it would be pretty, but I was still surprised by the beauty of this place. Around sunset, the sky was a bright hazy glow and the water had become a milky white. It was a stunning sight paired with the distant mountains and the dramatic tufa towers on the shores of the lake.

Tufa is essentially common limestone. What is uncommon about this limestone is the way it forms. Typically, underwater springs rich in calcium (the stuff in your bones) mix with lakewater rich in carbonates (the stuff in baking soda). As the calcium comes in contact with carbonates in the lake, a chemical reaction occurs resulting in calcium carbonate–limestone. The calcium carbonate precipitates (settles out of solution as a solid) around the spring, and over the course of decades to centuries, a tufa tower will grow. Tufa towers grow exclusively underwater, and some grow to heights of over 30 feet. The reason visitors see so much tufa around Mono Lake today is because the lake level fell dramatically after water diversions began in 1941.

It took me four days to do it, but I think I finally created a passable portrait of Christopher Walken, which is good since it’s on my list of 32 things to do before I turn 33 and my birthday is coming up!

These are a few of the doodles that I’ve done over the past few weeks, which all happen to be of men. The first one was originally going to be of my friend, Tony, but I quickly gave up on the idea because he was having a conversation with people and I couldn’t really get a good look at him.

This second doodle, which I did on the plane ride home from Argentina, is of Jim. I think it’s funny because it looks like Jim, but a sort of alternate universe Jim where he has a longer head.This last one I did during a meeting at work. Perhaps some of my co-workers will recognize it 🙂

While we were on vacation in Argentina I took some video, and I was finally able to put something together with the footage! I set it to the song Helplessness Blues by Fleet Foxes because Jim always says it’s our song, and also because I had the song in my head so often while we were there. Somehow the beauty of the landscape reminded me of the lyrics.

During our travels to Buenos Aires and Patagonia, I made several doodles to pass the time. Although this one looks simple, it probably took me about two hours to make it. Jim says it looks like a maze of glaciers. After finishing it, I realized he was right, which is weird because I started it before I’d ever even seen a glacier.

Plaster crumbling from colorful old buildings, rusty iron balconies, black and white tile all cracked and broken, tropical plants so big they might be monsters. These are some of the things you see when you look into the a hidden courtyard in Buenos Aires. These things transport you to another world, a time of the past, and give you a glimpse at what Argentina might really be like: quiet, nostalgic, and somewhat falling apart.

After our time in Patagonia, we headed up to Buenos Aires to enjoy the last few days of our vacation. On our first day there, we quickly discovered that the streets of Buenos Aires are quite different from these whispering courtyards. Instead the streets are bustling and modern, with black and yellow taxis zipping by and people, young and old, walking swiftly to unknown destinations. Perhaps they’re on their way to a corner cafe to have a coffee or to an afternoon meeting in the hectic micro-center.

Or maybe they’re just on an afternoon stroll through one of Buenos Aires’ beautiful neighborhoods, each with its own distinct character.

My favorite neighborhoods were San Telmo and Recoleta. San Telmo is located just south of the city center and has a sort of alternative flair, with lots of run down restaurants and antique shops. Peek into any storefront and you might see hundreds of crystal chandeliers dangling from the ceiling. The neighborhood is also the home of a huge the San Telmo market, which occupies an entire city block and is a great place to buy antiques of all kinds, as well as leather goods, fresh veggies, and delicious sandwiches.

Recoleta, on the other hand is quite different from San Telmo. It’s a beautiful residential neighborhood famous for it’s Parisian-style architecture and many green spaces. We loved strolling through the heart of Recoleta, a series of central plazas full of people selling artisan crafts, street musicians, jugglers, and many residents and tourists relaxing on the grass for a picnic or a bit of yerba mate.

The trees in these plazas are especially amazing. Right when we stepped out of the cab we saw a beautiful group of rubber trees. We went over to take a look at it only to discover that it was one monstrous tree. I later learned that this famous tree, nicknamed Gran Gomero, has branches that span over 150 feet. Huge!

We also enjoyed strolling through the Recoleta cemetery, which is big enough to get lost in, and were amazed at the size of the mausoleums, each one bigger than the next. Many were falling apart from years of neglect.

It seems that every block of Buenos Aires has five cafes. We also appreciated that. We spent hours sipping coffees, trying new apperitivos, and people watching, as we tried to decipher what Buenos Aires is really about. We only spent three nights there, not enough to figure it out, but we were definitely enchanted, both by the busy streets and the mysterious courtyards within them.

Perhaps one day we’ll return to discover a little bit more about what Buenos Aires really is.